Canadian Arctic Wild Life Enquiry, 1939-40

Abstract

85 replies to questionnaires give data on changes in number of lemmings (Lemmus and Dicrostonyx), Arctic fox (Alopex lagopus), and snowy owls (Nyctea nyctea). In general there was comparative scarcity after recent decreases in numbers. There were striking regional differences in population changes. For lemmings and "mice" a peak year came in 1935-36 in Southampton Island, Repulse Bay, and Chesterfield Inlet. In 1936-37 a peak occurred at Tavane, Nonala, and Eskimo Point; in 1937-38 at Northern Quebec, Baffin Island, Fort Ross, King William Island, and Cambridge Bay; and in 1938-39 in Northern Labrador and West Coast Victoria Island. In the first of these regions another peak may have occurred in 1939-40 after a 4-yr. interval. Arctic foxes and snowy owls tend to show a rise and fall in population in harmony with the lemming cycle. The severe 1938-39 pandemic of dog disease was apparently checked by quarantine measures at Pond Inlet during 1939 and did not spread far beyond its previous limits here and at Repulse Bay.